Distraction
by JustPeachy123
Summary: And in the midst of everything, she realized that maybe it was time to let go.
1. I'll Be Your Distraction

Author: Julie

Disclaimer: _I don't own Gilmore Girls or any songs._

A/N: Excuse my French. My plot-less French, at that. Okay, so it has a semi-plot-ish sequence of events thing. If you will.

**----------**

"Is it still me that makes you sweat?

Am I who you think about in bed?

When the lights are dim and your hands are shaking

As you're sliding off your dress

Then think of what you did

And how I hope to God he was worth it

When the lights are dim and your heart is racing

As your fingers touch your skin

I've got more wit, a better kiss, a hotter touch, a better fuck

Than any boy you'll ever meet

Sweetie, you had me"

– Panic! At the Disco "Lying is the Most Fun a Girl Can Have Without Taking Her Clothes Off"

**----------**

Rory had never imagined Riley ending up on her "Acceptable Boys to Date" list. He was a flirt and a player, and frankly, an asshole. But she couldn't stop herself around him. She couldn't stand him, but she couldn't stop thinking about him. She hated his cockiness, but she loved it at the same time. So she dated him. He had always pursued her, no matter how much she tried distancing herself from him. She treaded lightly. She was careful and shy, because she knew his reputation. She didn't open up to him, she didn't let him touch her. She was poised and mysterious and quiet. And then, she got sucked in.

They were together for almost two years when she walked in on him. Him and _her_. _She_ was a virgin. A prude. Not even a tease because everyone figured she was just untouchable. It hurt Rory more that Melanie (_she_)was hard to get. Rather than it being a drunk hook up, it was a goddamn challenge to him. Riley sought her out and actuallytried to screw her while he was with Rory.

_Dick. _Was the only thought currently going through Rory's head. The one thing that she was thankful for was that they had skillfully avoided each other since that night, and she was wishfully thinking she could pull off avoiding him for the rest of the school year. Which just happened to be four more months.

"Rory!" Louise said for the second time.

She snapped out of her muse, and came back to the real world which was currently the noisy, busy, and extremely irritating cafeteria. "Yeah?"

"What's on your mind, babe?" 'Babe.' Riley always called her babe. Then again, who _didn't_ he call babe?

"Oh," she said shaking her head, "Nothing, just daydreaming." Lame excuse. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"We were just talking about that new kid. You know who he is?" Apparently Louise took lame excuses well.

"Oh, Tristan Dugrey?"

Madeline laughed. "Nice male stripper name."

"More like medieval warrior." Paris retorted.

"Whatever his name may be..." Louise said, smirking and nodding her head in the direction of a blonde guy surrounded by people. "From what I can tell he's just about to become King of everything you could possibly imagine at Chilton."

"Homecoming." Paris said.

"Prom." Madeline added.

"Women." Rory mused. She was eying the boy who currently had five girls latched onto him like leeches as she said this.

Louise glanced at Rory and smiled. "He's yours."

"What?"

"He's yours." She repeated. "You need some serious rebound action and he's by far the perfect candidate-" She was interrupted by a voice at the other end of the table.

"Yes, Louise, I agree. In fact, from my extensive research I have come to conclude that Tristan is quite the player, a type of which Rory seems to..."

"Brad!" Paris yelled, lunging at him, stating facts about privacy as she towered over him. Only Paris could pull of screaming in the lunchroom without anyone even bothering to turn a head.

"Anyways..." Madeline said, looking back down at her unfinished homework.

"I don't want him." Rory said defiantly.

"Oh please."

"I don't!"

Paris had finally finished attacking Brad who had gotten so scared he had run off to the library like a mouse, and she plopped down in her seat, out of breath. "That was an easy one."

"Thanks as always, Paris." _For changing the subject, _Rory thought.

"Well, then who _do_ you want?" Louise asked, ignoring Paris.

"I...God." She was exasperated but Louise persisted.

"I wanted Riley." She shook her head. "But, I can't be with someone I don't trust. I can't be with someone who would do that to me."

Louise gave her a sympathetic look and reached across the table for her hand. "So, since you can't be with Riley..."

"Louise!" Rory cried and hit her friend on the arm, but smiling nonetheless. "I don't need rebound action, I need to heal."

"Rebounding is part of the healing process." Madeline piped up.

"No." Rory told them both forcefully, popping a chip in her mouth.

"At least get wasted." Louise pleaded.

"Okay _fine_." Rory said giving in. "I'll get buzzed for _your _sake. But I am not hooking up with the girl hound over there." She was eyeing Tristan, disgusted. He was being... rubbed by the many girls around him, and sporting a satisfied smirk.

"If that's what you say." Louise answered giving Madeline a "See what I mean?" look and taking a bite of her salad.

**----------**

That night, Louise and Madeline had dragged Rory and Paris to a party.

"It'll be fun!" Madeline promised. She was a light weight in the least, and needed about two beers to get more-than-buzzed. Yeah, after four straight vodka shots, it _would _be fun for Madeline.

Paris looked at Rory and rolled her eyes. Rory just shrugged.

"Please tell me he's not going to be here." Rory asked the air as they threw their coats on the ground in the foyer.

"Well." Louise grimaced sympathetically, "It _is_ a Chilton party. You know Riley's famous for these."

Rory groaned. Yeah, she knew. She and Riley had slept together in one of the upstairs bedrooms one night after both of them got seriously trashed. She had also found him and _her_ in the same bedroom two months later. Yeah, she _definitely _knew.

Madeline, who was always one to fix a bad situation, reasoned. "At least they have good music."

One of those catchy, dirty, bass-pounding rap songs was playing.

"Sure, Maddy. Sure."

**----------**

A couple hours later, Paris, Louise, and Rory were sitting on a couch listening to a very drunk Jake Ryerson tell them of his last girlfriend. They had already tried to sneak away, but when they went to get up he had asked in an extremely desperate voice why girls always left him, and they couldn't just walk away from that. It didn't help Rory's case that he was one of Riley's best friends. Or accomplices in crime. Whatever they were.

"She was real pretty." He mumbled, taking another swig, "And good in bed."

Rory scoffed silently.

"How our love did slowly fade." Either he really meant it, or he was just repeating the line from the Death Cab song in the background.

"You know, Jake, we should get-" Rory was interrupted from trying to stop him from further embarrassing himself when a voice rang out across the giant living room.

"Jake! Dude! Get over-" The boy stopped the drunken stumbling and talking when he saw Rory holding the arm of his best friend.

Rory's breath hitched, but she was the first one to speak. "Riley."

"Rory."

And with that she let go of Jake's arm and pushed past Riley outside to the balcony. She couldn't. She couldn't listen to him say her name again. Not after all the times he'd said it before in circumstances she wasn't going to think about. Not ever. Not any more.

There were a few couples out on the deck, which she found strange considering it was the middle of February, until she realized they were all either smoking or talking with a smoker, but it was so large that they hardly noticed Rory coming out, or Riley following her.

"Rory." His voice was dripping with regret and desperation. She inhaled sharply but kept walking, heading for the stairs that would lead her to the lawn where she could at least escape the goddamn hurt he was causing her. Letting out a sigh, he grabbed her shoulder, stopping her and turning her around with ease.

"Don't touch me." Her words were harsh and impatient. He stepped back in semi-surprise, letting go of her shoulder. "Look, Riley, I don't have time for this." She crossed her arms and hunched her shoulders, going into protective mode. "What do you want?"

He let out a scoff and looked away.

"What?" She asked him impatiently.

"What _happened_ to you, Rory?" He asked, trying to find something in her eyes, but to no avail. Why had she been so suddenly defensive lately? She was always walking around like someone was going to tell her that her mother died. And then punch her in the face.

She looked in his eyes. The curly haired boy looked so helpless and afraid, in contrast to his usual carefree and rough demeanor. She looked away from him and shook her head. He was hurting her, he was killing her, but she saw something in him that she'd never seen before, in anyone. And so she stayed. "Riley..." She took a long breath and paused. "I guess you did. You happened to me."

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" She repeated, her voice harsh again. "What do I mean? What the fuck do you think I mean? You cheated on me!" She waved her hands around wildly. "I walked in on you fucking that girl in the upstairs bedroom of Jason Peter's million dollar mansion." She scoffed, looking at him in disbelief. "What do you think happened to me?"

He clenched his jaw. He'd never seen her act this way. She'd never seen him look so scared. "Rory... Rory." She couldn't handle it. She couldn't listen to him say her name. "Look at me." She did. "I love you, Rory." She didn't respond, but her breathing suddenly became unsteady. "I do. I love you. I can't stand not being with you. It's driving me crazy." He was hopeless. And pathetic. "I love you, Rory. I fucking_ love_ you." He looked away helplessly. "I don't know what else you want me to say! I regret what I did, but I can't make it go away. I didn't want to hurt you. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm_ so _unexplainably sorry." As if saying "sorry" over and over would somehow tame her anger. She let her shoulders loose, and her right hand clung to her left elbow. She still hadn't said anything. She didn't even want to. "Rory, please say something."

"I..." She didn't know why she was doing this. "I..." She shouldn't be talking to him; he was breaking her. He had already broken her heart. "I..." Everything was telling her no. Her heart was pulling at her throat and swelling in her chest. "I..." She inhaled one more time and looked down. "I love you too."

Riley let out a sigh of relief and pulled her into a hug, kissing her forehead. She turned around in his arms to look out over the deck and up at the sky, and he rested his chin on her head. She let her body sag into his for a moment, before straightening up and moving to stand next to him. He put his arm around her and kissed her, and she couldn't help flinching. She knew she shouldn't be doing this. She was just setting herself up for heartbreak. But that look in his eyes...it was so sad. He really did look hurt._ Somewhere deep inside, Riley's a good person, and I can bring that out in him. I know I can._

**----------**

Tristan watched the exchange between this random couple from across the balcony in disgust. He recognized the girl from one of his classes. Rory. Rory...he fished for a last name...Gilmore.

Nice stripper name.

It was pathetic, really, the way she just took him back like that after he had been "fucking that girl in the upstairs bedroom of Jason Peter's million dollar mansion." Just fucking took him back. _I wonder if all girls in this goddamn school are pushovers. _He scoffed. _Or at least the other half that aren't gold diggers. _

He saw her looking at the brown haired boy like he was burning her. Like she wanted to break down and start sobbing, but couldn't. He saw her nod and say something that he couldn't make out from the distance. And then the guy reached out and kissed her forehead. Tristan turned away. It was pathetic. Truly pathetic.

"Hey, baby." Tristan groaned inwardly. It was _her _again.

"Hey..." he answered, turning around with a smirk tugging at his lips.

He didn't know why he did this. Why he constantly pretended to like these girls and lead them on. There was no point in acting like they were special, except to fuck them. Half of them weren't even good in bed. So why did he continue to screw with them?

"So, I was thinking..." Here it went again. He was only semi-listening to her flirt with him, smiling at her when necessary. He had, in the past, figured he did it because it didn't matter. His family moved around so much that he most likely wouldn't have to deal with them in the summer or following school year if he fucked them. He had given up looking for someone better long ago. But now, they were here to stay. It wasn't his father spitting out crap, he knew it was true. They were staying. So why was he doing this? Why lead them on? Why hook up with them? He was just going to fuck up their life, no benefit to him, most definitely no benefit to them, and he knew it.

She inched closer to him, putting her hands on his chest. He fought back a roll of his eyes. "Hey," she interrupted his thoughts. "What do you say..." He knew what she was going to say, he didn't even bother listening to another word. She wanted to get him in bed. _Well, why not? _He put on a smirk and she grabbed his hand, leading him into the house.

So maybe Rory wasn't the only pathetic one.

**----------**

"Gilmore!" Paris yelled, dragging her into an empty room, when she and Riley had finally come inside. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Way to be subtle about your feelings on this one, Paris."

Paris ignored her. "Honestly, of all the stupid things you've done..."

"Paris, is there a point to this?" Rory asked her friend, already exasperated and getting to the point. "I'm back with Riley. That's all there is to it. You can't change that, and neither can Louise or Madeline."

"You're back with Riley."

"I'm back with Riley." Rory confirmed.

"Riley Mason."

"Glad you know his name."

Paris sighed.

"Can't you just be happy for me?" Rory asked her desperately.

Paris shrugged. "You said you couldn't be with someone you couldn't trust, someone who would do that to you. So what changed?"

Rory looked away. Paris just nodded. "Why are you doing it, Rory?"

"I guess I love him."

"Bullshit."

Rory looked away, making a face. "I'm not taking this." She pushed past Paris and marched across the room. As her hand reached the doorknob Paris called after her, "Your mom would get a kick out of this." That stopped Rory. Her mom. She had hated Riley, even before he cheated on Rory, even before she knew his reputation. Even before he took Rory's virginity. Her mom, the one person who had really, really hated this kid. Her mom was the strongest person she'd ever known. She didn't succumb to what men wanted her to do. She was strong for herself. What would she think of Rory taking him back after he said a couple "I'm sorry"s? Still with her back to Paris, Rory rubbed her temples.

"Oh, God. I have to tell her." She turned around to face the blonde, worrying her lip into her teeth.

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't if you hadn't been such a damsel in distress and taken him back after he confessed his-" her voiced raised a few octaves "-undying love to you!"

"Paris, I honestly think I'd rather listen to my mom yell at me for getting back together with him after what he did to me than to _not _be with him."

Paris's eyes widened in surprise. "You really love him?"

Rory turned the knob and nodded. "Yeah. I really love him."


	2. Smile, You've Won

Author: Julie

Disclaimer: _I don't own Gilmore Girls or any songs._

A/N: Slippery when wet. Beware of dog. Beverage may be hot. You know, the usual. :) And, yeah, it's not the best, but I haven't found much inspiration for this story lately. Eh, it'll come to me.

**----------**

Once because we always were there

I'm impressed, you've never seemed so scared

And you still don't know

But I found comfort in this bottle

And you out of sight, out of mind

And nowhere close to being sober straight

I've seen that look in me

Don't ever let me see those words on your lips

It's just me, it's just me

So yeah, yeah well now it's peace in the form of a dove

Yeah, yeah it's peace and love and

Just whatever goes down

– Lydia "Smile, You've Won"

**----------**

With the way they acted the rest of the night, downing drinks and getting much too close for comfort, it was pretty obvious what was going on to everyone at the party. Madeline, Louise, and Paris had been looking out for Rory as well as they could, but after a while, watching her falling all over Riley for yet another sloppy make out session for the masses to see was getting a little old.

"What is she _thinking_?" Louise asked the other two girls.

"Obviously there wasn't a lot of thought process going on there." Paris said, glancing over as she tripped over her own feet, grinning.

"What do we do?"

"Let her make her mistakes." Leave it up to Paris to be decisive when the other girls still wanted to ponder over being wonder womans and saving their best friend.

"Didn't we do that by not saying anything when she and Riley-" she coughed, "Satan," and coughed again, "Made up?"

"God, Louise, would you just drop it already? She's being an idiot, okay? There's nothing we can do to fix that and we have to let her grow up already!" With that Paris stormed off.

"Oh my God, what's her deal tonight?" Madeline asked.

"Hon, that's just Paris. She's freaking out because Rory's changed. Paris doesn't handle change well, especially in her best friend."

And it was true, a year ago when they were 15, Rory would have never done something this outrageous. She would be calm and collected, and she would think things through, never let her heart overrule her logical side. Riley had changed her, and Louise, Madeline, and Paris were beginning to wonder if it was for the better.

"I guess we should just... let her figure it out. I mean, it's Rory. How bad could it get?"

**----------**

Rory grabbed Riley's hand, giggling and stumbling, and with no reservations she led him upstairs.

"Come heeere," she slurred. She pulled him in for a sloppy kiss.

"God your so sexy," he told her, pushing up against a wall and kissing her feverishly.

She laughed.

She finally opened the door to an empty room and shoved him on top of the bed, straddling his stomach and kissing him all over his neck and mouth. She unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt, smirking. She paused for a moment, looking at Riley, feeling tingles in her chest, and suddenly she felt sick to her stomach and ashamed of herself. She pushed the feelings away with another drunken kiss.

Half an hour later Riley was lighting up a cigarette laying carelessly on his back, Rory curled up in an uncomfortable ball with her back turned to him, silent tears smearing her make up.

**----------**

Louise sang along to the radio absentmindedly on her way home. She was fairly trashed, but no one had stopped her from driving home, so she figured she'd be fine. And if not, at least she didn't have to be at that goddamn party anymore.

Yes, she was worried about Rory. They were best friends, of course she'd be worried. Riley wasn't good for Rory _or _her relationship with Paris, Madeline, and Louise, and Louise knew it better than the rest of the girls, especially Rory. Rory was intelligent when it came to academics and people skills, but Louise was beginning to question how well she was choosing boys. First there was Jess and then...

But she didn't even want to think about Jess. She had briefly considered Jess was the reason Rory couldn't choose the right guys. Briefly. Rory used good judgement, and Louise figured that Jess would never get in the way of that. But then again, maybe he would. Even if she was level headed and smart, Rory was also sensitive. She could be broken easily; she _had _been broken easily... by Jess. Louise wondered if the punk even knew what he had done to Rory when he left her.

But she wasn't going to think about that now, not now.

She focused on the road ahead of her, nausea growing in her stomach. Focus, focus, focus.

Five minutes later, Louise was parked on the side of the road, puking into a ditch.

**----------**

It seemed wrong to be jealous, but Madeline just couldn't help it. Rory got any boy she wanted, and she got _relationships_, not just a one night stand. She was far from a virgin and far from a prude, but Madeline had never had a real boyfriend that lasted more than a week. And so she was jealous. Not that it was reasonable or made any sense considering all the times Rory had gotten her heart broken, but Madeline almost wanted that. Just to get her heartbroken, just to feel something, anything, more than sex. But she knew she'd never get it, not with all the potential relationships she'd trashed.

Of course, she could never tell her "best friends" any of this. They'd take it as many wrong ways as they could. She loved them, but lately she'd been questioning their dependability.

_No, no. She thought. Of course I can depend on them. What am I thinking? _

_Depend on them for what?_ She countered herself. She knew it sounded selfish, but honestly she couldn't help it. They were all spending their time on Rory and Riley, Madeline included, but sometimes it just couldn't be all about Rory. Sometimes it should have been about Madeline.

_No, no, no. _She scolded herself._ This isn't about you and it won't be. It doesn't have to be. Does it? God, Maddy, what are you thinking? Stop being so fucking self centered._

All alone on the couch, Madeline couldn't stop her thoughts, so she ventured out into the house. Spotting Parker Niles leaning against the counter, oh-so-subtly-sexy, she all but threw herself onto him, tucking her feelings away in their closeness.

An hour later, Madeline was sprawled out on the bathroom floor sobbing from guilt.

**----------**

Frankly, Paris didn't care. She could hardly give a fuck about Rory. Or at least, that's what she kept telling herself.

She wasn't going to let this affect her. So, people change. Some for the better and some for the worse. So, maybe Rory had changed for the worse. So be it. Paris didn't have to be there for her all the time, Paris didn't have to be her best friend all the time. Rory could rely on Riley if that's the kind of mistake she wanted to make. Rory could be with Riley if she wanted, Rory was a big girl and Rory could do what she wanted. Paris could care less.

10 minutes later, Paris was holding Rory's hair back and glaring at the boy playing beer pong in the corner like his girlfriend wasn't miserable and embarrassed with everything that had happened that night, like he didn't even care.


	3. So Used Up as This

Author: Julie

Disclaimer: _I don't own Gilmore Girls or "Celebrity Skin" by Hole._

A/N: So. I actually found some weird inspiration to write this chapter and it makes me happy.

**----------**

When I wake up  
In my makeup  
It's too early for that dress  
Wilted and faded  
Somewhere in Hollywood  
Oh, Cinderella  
They aren't sluts like you  
Beautiful garbage  
Beautiful dresses  
Can you stand up or will you just fall down?  
You better watch out  
On what you wish for  
When I wake up  
In my make up  
Have you ever felt so used up as this?

**----------**

_Oh. My. God._ In between the vomiting, this thought wouldn't stop running through Rory's head the next morning. This had to be the worst hangover she'd ever had, and she knew it wasn't just because of the alcohol. Luckily she was still in her own bed. Luckily. She didn't know what she'd do without her trusty wastebasket right next to her all night, which was usually used for rough drafts of school papers, but was definitely useful for other things.

After her- hopefully- last retch into the trash, Rory stumbled into the shower and turned the spray as hot as she could handle it. She recounted the events of the night before. She had no idea where she stood with her friends after what had happened, which put a damper on the mental pro/con list she was making, she had no idea where she stood with Riley after she'd started crying, and she had no idea where she stood with the gossip mill of Chilton. Stepping out of the shower, Rory grabbed a towel and headed into the living room to call Louise.

"Hello?"

"Louise," Rory groaned. "I need breakfast."

"Why, Miss Rory, you're sounding splendid this morning." Louise laughed.

"Shut up. Let's go out."

"Alright. I'll call Madeline, you call Paris and make the reservation. You wanna meet at Leona's?"

"Great. I'll see you in a bit."

**----------**

"Gilmore!" Rory's head snapped up to see Paris and Madeline across the room. She waved. Madeline waved back and grinned but Paris continued scowling.

"So..." Rory began when they sat down. "What's up?"

"What's up is what happened last night." Paris didn't beat around the bush.

"Right. Should we wait until Louise gets here?" Rory asked tentatively.

"Yeah, but-" At that moment, Louise sat down.

"Hey guys." She inhaled deeply and let the breath out slowly. "Okay." _Divide and conquer._ "We need to talk about... things." She glanced at Rory and held her gaze for a couple seconds.

Rory looked down.

Paris began. "So, the Riley thing?"

"Which part of the Riley thing?" Rory asked grimacing.

"You - getting back together with him. I know that you love him. And I know that sometimes you can't control that."

Rory scoffed.

"_Anyways_." Paris continued. "I don't think he's good for you. You deserve so much better, Rory."

Rory inhaled sharply. "Oh?"

"Yes," Louise picked up. "Just because Jess fucked you over - and yes, Rory, that's what it's chocked up to, please don't try and defend him - it doesn't mean that you can just accept shit from other guys, okay? You deserve so much more than Jess and so much more than-" She stopped herself before she said anything that would obviously blow up in her face. "You just deserve more."

"_Oh_?"

"Yes. You do. I wish that we could make you see that. What Jess did to you was horrible. And what Riley did to you was _horrible_. And you know that I can give a second chance. A third chance, even. And you can give a million. But the thing is - you're giving Riley much more than a chance and it _kills _me to see you rushing into this again. To see you putting your heart on the line, with him of all people. It kills all of us, Rory, because you are an amazing girl and you're so desperate to find the good in everyone. But it's almost like while you're finding that good, you're sacrificing part of yourself. I just wish you didn't have to do that."

Rory nodded slightly. "I... don't really know what to say. I mean, I wasn't exactly expecting an intervention."

"Well what the hell do you think brunch is for? Hangover intervention." Madeline laughed as she said this.

Rory smiled. "Oh, you guys." She paused to form her words. "I just don't think that... I'm being as vulnerable as I was when Riley hurt me the first time. As I was when Jess left me. I'm not going to let him hurt me again. I swear."

"Ror. It's not as easy as that and you know it," Maddy told her. "You can't just decide that you're not going to be hurt by someone. You're putting yourself in a vulnerable _situation_, no matter how unaffected you're going to make yourself be. If he does something again, it's going to hurt you. You know that. We all know that."

"I just... I just..." She didn't know what to say. They were right. "I don't know. I just missed him so much. I love him so much and I don't know why. He's a fucking asshole but I love him. God, what's _wrong _with me? I-"

She stopped herself when she heard the voice of the boy at the table next to her.

"Melanie Sebastian."

"No fucking way." The boy next to him laughed.

Rory's head turned slightly to the boys, the girls' gazes following hers.

_Oh my God._ Rory thought for the fiftieth time that day.

The new kid, Tristan Dugrey, was sitting there bragging about sleeping with the girl that Riley had cheated on Rory with, bragging to Jake Ryerson, Riley's best friend and the boy they had comforted on the night of the party before fate took over and Riley came over drunkenly... Rory's head was spinning.

"Oh my God." Rory said shaking her head, frazzled.

"_No way._" Louise added.

"Whoa." Madeline said, dumbfounded. "We need some food. We can talk about this later." She paused. "Whoa."

**----------**

"This is so crazy." Rory shoved another bite of french toast into her mouth. "This is so fucking crazy. My God, it's like a web of... hookups." She paused. "I feel gross now."

"How are you eating all that?" Louise asked.

"That's not what I'm talking about."

Rory slathered a piece in butter and syrup and stuffed it into her mouth. "I'm just hungry, alright?" She said defensively.

Paris looked at Rory knowingly. "Oh come on. It's really not that big of a deal Rory. If you and Riley are going steady, great. If you're happy with it, great. If you're going to let something like this freak you out, not so great. It's not like anyone's going to find out that they slept together. Or even that you and Riley are together. And if they do, who cares?

"Paris. Please. I may have been sloshed last night but I know that everyone there knew what was going on. And the new kid getting laid by... well, that girl? And befriending Riley's best friend? Big news for the gossip mill. _Big _news." She stole a grape off Louise's salad. "And... you know what? Whatever. They can know. But me and Riley aren't over. And we won't be because of a bunch of petty kids with nothing better to do than be bitchy."

And that was just what the girls were afraid of.

**----------**

They all drove back to Paris's house since her parents were gone for the weekend. Collapsing on the king size bed, Rory sighed and rolled her eyes. "What a weekend."

"And it's only Saturday," Louise reminded her, walking to the stereo. She flicked the radio on and sighed. "Ah, Audioslave. If there was a way I could marry Chris Cornell and make him get naked and make pancakes and sing to me every morning, my life would be complete."

"Oh, Louise." Rory laughed. "That's why you're my best friend."

After a little while of hanging out and talking, Rory finally spoke up. "Guys... I kind of have something I need to confess."

All heads snapped toward her. "Riley and I slept together last night."

They nodded, slightly surprised, but they'd all pretty much expected it.

"And... I started crying. I don't think he noticed. And I don't know why and I really don't think it's a big deal and it didn't happen until afterward when he started smoking and my back was turned but I don't know what got into me, tears just started streaming down my face and I was so upset for no reason and..."

"Rory." Paris said, "Take a deep breath. Calm down. We're going to work through this."

"So you slept with him." Paris paused. "When did you start crying?"

"Well, you know, afterwards. After it."

"Were you just drunk? Overly emotional because of all the alcohol? Maybe it was simply because of all that had changed in so little time. Maybe it was just overwhelming."

"Yeah," Rory agreed faintly and looked down at her fingernails. "Or maybe it was just a mistake."

All three girls' heads snapped up again. This was the last thing they had expected from Rory, especially the night after it had all happened.

"Rory." Paris said firmly. "If you felt like this was a mistake you wouldn't have taken him back again. You know? Obviously the first time you wouldn't have realized going into it. But now, you would've. You would've known. Wouldn't you have?"

"I don't know." Rory said in a voice they couldn't place, wistful almost."It feels just like the first time."

**----------**

Tristan knew Rory was listening. That was half the reason he was bragging about it. The other half being Jake. Tristan wasn't stupid. He knew who was popular, and he wasn't going to ruin a chance at getting there. Especially if it meant getting Rory. And if getting to Rory meant going through Riley, so be it. Even if Riley was the biggest asshole Tristan had ever met.

When Tristan and Jake left the restaurant, Jake punched Tristan in the arm. "Did you _see _who was in there?"

Tristan just smirked and nodded. "Oh yeah."

"What the fuck are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking Rory is _hot_. And easy. Not slutty, just... easily persuaded."

"You fucker." Jake said laughing. "Rory Gilmore is a girl you don't want to even try. And anyway, how do you think saying shit like that for her to hear is going make her want you?"

"Oh come on. You really don't know?"

"Humor me."

"Just wait and see, Jake. Just wait and see."


End file.
